


Interview with a Drowned Twin

by quarterweeb



Category: Twelfth Night - Shakespeare
Genre: ??? - Freeform, Actually it's more like conversation format, Character Study, Gen, Interviews, It's just me as the author talking to Sebastian, Screenplay/Script Format, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-28 17:30:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21140489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quarterweeb/pseuds/quarterweeb
Summary: Twelfth Night's Sebastian isn't really a character we know a lot about, so I figured, "Why not just ask?" A character study of Sebastian for my own role in Twelfth Night.





	Interview with a Drowned Twin

**Author's Note:**

> Unfortunately, I recently had to drop out of Twelfth Night due to a dispute with my director :-( while I was reminiscing about the great auditions we'd had, I remembered that I'd written this as a way for me to understand Sebastian better. This "interview" is meant to take place near the beginning of the show.
> 
> A note in case you didn't see it in the tags: my director wanted to make Sebastian FtM, and so that's how I've written him here!

**What is your name?**

Sebastian.

**Do you have a last name?**

Messalina. The land of my birth.

**Tell me about your parents.**

My father was Sebastian, a wealthy Italian merchant. I took his name, when he died. My mother was Alessia, a young woman whose parents worked closely with my father's family in the importation of Eastern goods to Italy.

**You took his name?**

I wasn't born a man. I was 12 when I became one. It felt right to take his name, after he died.

**Have both your parents passed?**

Yes. My father on my 13th birthday, and my mother not much later on, when I was 16.

**I'm sorry.**

Hm. They were good people. Better they while their time away in heaven than here.

**Who took care of you after the death of your parents?**

Extended family, mostly. Both my mother and father had plenty of siblings.

**And you? Do you have any siblings?**

I did. A sister, Viola.

**Tell me about her.**

She was my twin sister.  _ Younger _ twin sister. Clever, witty. She always had a way with words. She would talk her way out of any fight she managed to get into, which wasn't many. She was well-liked, I think. Kind. Me, on the other hand...

**What about you?**

I was always a fighter. Cockiness, mostly, especially after I took on my name. I felt like I had to prove that I wasn't just a girl dressed in boys' clothes. Trouble was my closest companion, save Viola.

**So you were close with your sister?**

Yes. Viola was my friend, my confidante, my partner-in-crime. She was the best sister I could ask for. I...I really miss her.

**What happened to her?**

...we were in a shipwreck. I...we were separated, and...she drowned.

**I don't mean to be rude, but...are you sure she drowned? After all, you survived.**

I wish I could be so optimistic. It's been three months since that wreck, and I've...adopted a more realistic outlook. Less painful that way.

**So, what have you been doing for the three months you've been stranded?**

Becoming acquainted with Illyria, recently. Trying to find my place.

**And before then?**

Before then I wasn't doing much of anything.

_ He laughs. _

I suppose I was...allowing myself to be taken care of.

**By who?**

Antonio. He was the man who saved me from the wreck. A pirate saving the heir to an immense fortune from death out of the goodness of his heart, can you imagine? Of course, he didn't know who I was, who my family was, and I didn't tell him until recently.

**Why not?**

Because nothing was stopping him from ransoming me. I do have some common sense.

**What's Antonio like?**

_ He smiles. _

Amazing. Strong, handsome, dangerous. A surprisingly competent nurse. Very good with his hands.

**So your relationship is...intimate.**

That's certainly a word for it.

**Do you love him?**

Of course. After all he's done for me?

**Well, are you in love with him?**

_ He sighs. _

I think I am. I...I know I am. I love him, with everything I can give. But I can only give so much.

**Why?**

_ He laughs, sardonically. _

I'm the only son of my father's house! Marrying a rich, powerful woman is my duty. If my family even knew that I was on some--some romantic tryst with a pirate, I'd be disowned faster than blinking.

**And how do you feel about that?**

Nothing gold can stay. I'm...enjoying it while it lasts.

**When are you going to break the news to Antonio?**

I couldn't do that to him. Antonio...he's a man moved by his heart, not his head. He'd do anything he could to be with me, and I couldn't--I can't make him do that for me. It'd be pointless, and--and it'd break my heart, seeing him fight for me. I can't let him do that.

**Thank you for talking with me. I appreciate it.**

Of course. Thank you, for listening. It's awfully rare, these days.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are appreciated, and (as always) I hope you enjoyed! Although I don't get to do a lot of Shakespeare, I really enjoy most of his works. Twelfth Night was a new one for me, and I'm grateful I was introduced to it, although I didn't get to perform it.


End file.
